Murder's Red Mark
by MMurray978
Summary: There's always blood involved, even more with a cold murder. Clare's a spy, she's seen it all; the broken promises, external and internal pain.  She has Adam, & even a certain pair of emerald eyes to help her forget the true reason why she's a spy.
1. Passion is Old News

Hey folks (:  
Sorry I've been gone for a loooong time ! I've been busy with school and trying to figure out a good story for Eli/Clare shipper! I think I might've found a good story. It only depends on the feedback I get on this prologue/ chapter 1. I hope I'll be able to continue this story cause I had a great time just writing it and seeing what came to mind when I wrote this. If I get really great feedback on this chapter then I'll have to figure out a schedule on when I would usually update (Like what day) Since I'm in school (freshman this year!) Well talk to you guys later! Please comment, I need feedback (:

**Passion is Old News**

_As I drove into the driveway, I saw the house engulfed in flames! I quickly undid my seatbelt and jumped out of the car, not caring about closing the door. I saw that the front door had been knocked open and I ran inside. My eyes began watering when the smoke stung my eyes; I immediately dropped to my knees and started crawling. I crawled around the tiny house, trying to find him._

_Where was he? I was groping around trying to find him. My vision was failing and the smoke had found its way to my lungs. I started to cough, yet I kept on calling out his name, "K.C.! Where are you?" Tears swelled in my eyes at the thought about not being able to find him, of being so helpless. I heard sirens, but I didn't care. I would rather die than live without K.C._

_I heard some muffled coughs, and then a hoarse voice, calling my name. I quickly made my way closer to where the noise was coming from. Although I had to squint a bit, I saw K.C. on all fours in a corner. I crawled over to him and lifted his face to mine. I felt the tears slide down my face and I whispered, "What happened?" He started crying and then kissed me; it was a kiss out of need and not of passion._

_A sad, little smile played upon K.C's lips, and there was a gun shot. I stared into K.C's lifeless eyes, just staring into empty space as I put his head in my lap. There was a warm, dark pool around us, but I was numb, I felt nothing, and if I did, I didn't care. I had just lost the one thing in my life that was perfect. In a split second everything was gone._

Beats of sweat trickled down my forehead and the back of my neck when I woke up in the middle of the night. My chest raised and lowered as my pulse became higher, breathing in and out as fast as I possibly could. It had been 2 years since the "accident". My husband has died, no, murdered, because of me. All I could remember was cradling his head in my lap as his eyes stared at me, his breathing had already ceased. I moved around, accommodating his motionless body. My eyesight was limited, but I remember seeing one green eye and one blue eye glowing in the approaching darkness. I gave in to the darkness around me, and then everything is black.

I awaken in the hospital with an IV attached to me and a pulsing headache. The doctor that had been checking up on me told me that I had suffered from first degree burns, but nothing else serious and with an obviously forced cheerfulness he told me I'd be as good as new in no time. I asked about K.C, all I got was a sad look and repetition of a fact I already knew well. K.C was dead and no one would tell me how or why.

I was released that same day and the next week I was whisked off to a funeral; _his _funeral to be exact. My parents had never been impressed with K.C, and were horrified when they heard I had married him, and even at the funeral, they refused to talk to me. I didn't even try to talk but they did give their condolences to his sister, Megan. Megan had been 2 years younger than K.C, but had acted like K.C.'s mother. And as hard as she tried to deny it, deep down inside I knew she loved K.C, especially since their parents had died in a plane crash.

I chose to sit in the way back where I could be hidden from condolences and people's pity. Megan was greeting everyone to notice me but K.C.'s dog, a wolf-dog mutt K.C had rescued - noticed me.K.C. and I had rescued him from the dog shelter right after we had gotten engaged because K.C. had said something about us not being safe. We had picked out a light brown and white wolf-dog who we named Keegan. Keegan tried to come to me but I sternly told him not from where I was and he obeyed. Keegan had been a great dog but Megan wanted to keep him and I told her she could. I was only 15 when K.C. and I had started dating and 17 when we had eloped. Then a year later, he died and it was my entire fault. Even two years later, I still have nightmares of his death.

After the funeral, I went back to my job and life. Sure, I had lost everything in that fire but I didn't dwell in the past. I got a new house and went on with life. After a year without K.C. some people had come by the house one Saturday morning; the morning that changed my life. There were three men that day that had entered the house.

They were all dressed in black and had shades on, covering their eyes. I offered them drinks but they declined. The dark skinned one then said, "Clare Edwards you are being recruited to take your husband's place in the Division." He smiled curtly and then introduced himself as Sav Bandhari. I had heard about the Division when K.C. had come home late one night and had been muttering about how stupid the some organization called the Division was.

Sav continued on, "Since you have no training like K.C. did then we will have to train you and see if you are fit for future missions. Please get your personal belongings packed up and then we will be off. Please try and hurry since we are on a very tight schedule." I sat there without moving; not believing what this Sav guy had told me.

I forced my mouth open and words stumbled out, "I want to know more about this Division before I move." I said sternly. Sav chuckled and then replied, "I remember K.C. telling me that his wife was a spitball of fire. I will try to explain the most important things right now but some things you'll just have to discover on your own."

One of the other two guys still standing then opened his mouth, "My name is Adam and this is my brother Drew." Adam pointed at the other guy standing next to him. "As Sav was saying, K.C. was a part of our Group 14. To put it really simple, we're spies. We work for the secret organization, the Division, but every spy is put in a group, ours of course is Group 14. You, Clare Edwards, are being recruited to take over K.C.'s place in our group."

I nodded slowly and then a small smile made its way on my lips. I confidently said, "I will do whatever it takes to take K.C's spot. I am ready to leave this part of my life behind and begin a new chapter in my life. I have nothing to take." The three guys smiled at me and then walked out the front door, with me at their heels.

When I was about to walk at the door, my eyes swept over the entire living room, just flickering a second longer on a picture of K.C. and I on our wedding day. A single tear shone on my cheek as I softly shut the door. I turned to see Sav and Drew starting to open a tiny book while Adam looked up at me sympathetically. He gave me a tiny smile and came over to hug me. I happily returned the hug and whispered thank you in his ear. I knew that Adam and I would become good friends.

Apparently, I had closed my eyes while hugging Adam and when I felt a tiny tap on my shoulder, my eyes flickered open and I then noticed I wasn't in front of my house. I saw people just walking around me and entering a room full of computers. People were talking to other people over TVs, like Skype. Others looked like they were speaking through what seemed to be pens.

My confused look must have been very funny because when I looked at Adam, he looked back at me and then bursted out into laughter. His laughter received some stern looks, but when the people realized it was Adam who was laughing, the looks softened. I started to blush when I saw most of the attention in the big room was directed towards us.

Drew and Sav had disappeared and the only person to help me was Adam, but he was having a fit of laughter and was rolling on the floor while I stood there, not really knowing what to do not where to go. Finally, I kneeled down next to where Adam was laying and sternly said, "Adam I do not think it's funny anymore. I really want to know where I am and now!" Adam rolled his eyes good naturedly and got up off the floor.

"You're at the Division headquarters, the main office to be exact. This is where you will report when it's time to go on your first mission. Every group, including ours, has their own training area, sleeping quarters, bathrooms, and game areas. There are around 10 missions and we all share a cafeteria together." I nodded as Adam looked at me. "Any questions grasshopper?"

I smirked at the nickname and nodded. "What is that room with the guy with glasses, that's looking at a couple of pens?" I pointed at the big room with the see-through glass windows all around the room. Adam nodded and replied, "That's the gadget room. The guy looking at the pens is Wesley. He's the inventor of all the gadgets of this place. That guy is an absolute genius!" _Adam must admire this Wesley guy_, I thought to myself.

"Okay, thanks for answering that question. Now what's the room with all the computers and people talking to each other over computer monitors?" I didn't even need to point to that room. "That is the communications room. When something bad is going on, we like to check on the other spies all around the world working for the Divisions. I think there is about 250,000 of us spie-" Adam stopped midway in his sentence when he saw my eyebrows raised and jaw dropped open.

I gave him an incredulous look and he just started chuckling. "What Clare? Did you actually think there were only spies in Canada?" He looked at me, hoping that I was only joking about the whole spy thing just being in Canada but saw that I wasn't joking. I had no clue that spies weren't just in Canada.

"K.C. didn't ever share with you what actually was his job?" I shook my head no and then looked at my feet. I missed K.C. He had always been there when my parents were fighting and now he was gone; probably because he was a spy. What was I getting myself into? Adam lifted my head with his finger placed under my chin and softly said, "Clare don't worry. Nobody will ever hurt you while you are working with Divisions. The entire group had tried to convince him not to marry but he had had his heart set on marrying you. He would always tell us how wonderful being married life was."

I looked into Adam's hazel eyes and saw that he wasn't lying. He wiped my tears away with his thumbs and kissed my forehead. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and continued to lead me around the headquarters. Adam knew everyone we passed and said hello to them all. I asked him where we were going and he told me we were going to the Group 14 building.

We passed 13 buildings before we came to the door with "Group 14" written in bold letters on it. There was a number pad next to the door and Adam punched in four numbers and then a voice asked for his finger scan. He put his thumb on a finger scanner and then the door opened. Adam pushed the door wider and let Clare duck her head and walk in with Adam following behind her.

Clare stood in amazement when she saw a huge inside pool with a fountain on one side. The pool was a lining of carved rocked with a fountain made up of rock on the side. The fountain's water silently flowed into the pool through 3 different openings. The pool stood directly in front of the door and was a large pool.

Adam smiled when he noticed Clare's reaction to the pool. "We do have other cool things beside the pool." Clare turned to her side and motioned for Adam to show her around the building. One of the doors off the right side of the pool led into a huge gym, complete with weights, balance beams, treadmills, boxing equipment, and bars. The floor was covered in a dark blue floor mat that covered the entire area.

Clare was shown the rooms, the kitchen, and the bathrooms. These spies defiantly didn't have a sad life. "So Adam, when do I get to meet the spies who live in Building 14?" "They're at the big gym with all the other groups training and practicing using new gadgets. Tonight you will get to meet them though. There's a big dinner tonight for all the spies and you will be there."

Clare was antsy about tonight and asked Adam, "Adam does this mean I'm spy?" Adam looked her straight in the eyes and said, "You are a spy in training. You will go on missions with the group like K.C." I smiled a bit at the thought of being able to honor K.C. by taking his place. "So tell me the names of the other spies in Group 14." Adam started ranting off the names, "There's Sav Bandhari, you met him; his girlfriend is Holly J. Then Fiona and me." I stopped him before he could go on and asked him, "Are you guys dating?" Adam blushed and looked down at his feet, muttering, "Not yet."

I smiled at him and then he continued. "Eli Goldsworthy, Ali Bandhari, Sav's younger sister, and her boy friend Drew; well you already know, my brother, then Fitz, and his girlfriend Bianca, and finally Zane and Riley." "Does this Eli not have a girlfriend or is she just in another group?" I asked. Adam looked at me solemnly and replied, "He did have a girlfriend and a daughter. Julia, his girlfriend was killed by an ex-spy, and let's just say it wasn't an accident."

I thought about Eli and how we were alike, that the one person that was the only thing perfect in our lives were both torn away from us. "What happened to his daughter?" "His daughter was killed a car accident while Eli was on a mission with all of us." I opened my mouth to ask another question, but Adam just held up his hand and said, "If you want any more details, you're going to have to ask him yourself." Disappointed, I nodded at Adam. "The dinner is at 1800 sharp _(the time in this story is recorded in 24-hour time)_. I, or someone else from this group, will accompany you to the cafeteria. Feel free to go where ever you want. Ali and Fiona will be back from training and will probably be more than glad to let you borrow some clothes for tonight."

"Thanks Adam, I mean it, seriously! Thank you for showing me around. I have a feeling we'll be really good friends." I smiled real big for him and he laughed and then a beeping sound was heard. His watch was beeping and wouldn't stop until Adam brought the watch in front of his face and tapped a smile button on the side. A tiny colorful hologram appeared and Sav's face appeared on the small screen.

"Adam you are to report immediately to the gym in the main building. Make sure Clare is settled before you come. I will send Ali and Fiona back to the building to get ready for tonight." Adam said "yes sir" and then the hologram disappeared. Adam shrugged and sadly said, "Sorry Clare, but duty calls! Please feel free to relax a bit. This is now your home." And as he was walking towards the door, he turned around and yelled, "Ali and Fiona should be here in about five minutes, okay? See you tonight!" Then Adam was off.

As the door closed, I looked around and debated on jumping in the pool or finding a book to read. I walked around the "house" as Adam liked to call it and decided to go to the gym. I opened the door that led to the gym and saw vaults and the balance beam. I had taken gymnastics for 10 years, until I met K.C. I quit since my parents got divorced and there wasn't any money to pay anymore.

I looked at my current attire, some black sweat pants and a turquoise tank top. The three spies hadn't caught me in my best moment or outfit. I hopped up onto the balance beam and began one of my old routines that I memorized. I went into a split with my feet pointed in different directions and my head downward before my memory took over. I lifted my legs up over my upper torso while my hands held most of my weight. My legs came together above me and then they landed in front of me. I gracefully got up and pointed my right foot while my left foot held my weight.

I lifted both my arms and then brought them close to my stomach, just as Coach Dalton had taught me to, then I flipped backwards. I landed straight and immediately brought my arms above my head. Then did another flip and landed again with my arms above my head. I did a switch leap and landed right on the edge of the balance beam. I turned around and did a cartwheel and then a one-hand cart wheel. I had made my way to the other end of the balance beam and then I did what I knew best to end my turn on the balance beam, the back dive with a quarter twists. I ran to the other end and then let my senses take over and closed my eyes. When I felt my feet land on the mat, I lifted my hands high above my head. I could still hear all the praises in the crowds and I felt a smile tug its way onto my face.

I heard some clapping close by and my eyes flashed open. I looked around, but couldn't see the intruder. Then a voice rang out, "Um... I'm over here!" Then a chuckle soon followed as I turned around. I came face to face with a pair of emerald green eyes and a smirk. "Bravo bravo!" The voice said and the person clapped a bit more before stopping. I felt my face turn all shades of red when the guy had said that. I timidly said, "Thanks that was nothing." I tried to brush off the comment he had just given me, but felt like my insides were about to burst open. "You must be Clare Edwards. I'm right aren't I?"

The guy smirked when he saw that I could only nod and sarcastically said, "Aren't you just full of yourself?" He replied, "Absolutely!" and his smirk grew bigger. "Allow me to introduce myself, seeing that you don't recognize a good spy when you see one! My name is..."

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Well, you've made it past the prologue/chapter 1! You should be proud of yourself! Hope this first one wasn't so bad (: I left you with a cliffhanger just for the fun of it. Comment, even if it's good or bad! I would love it no matter what! (:


	2. Being Ticklish is a Crime

**Being Ticklish is a Crime **

_The dude smirked when he saw Clare only nod and then said sarcastically said, "Aren't you just full of yourself?" The dude replied, "Absolutely!" and continued to smirk even bigger. "Allow me to introduce myself, seeing as you don't even know a good catch of a spy you've come across! My name is..."_

_

* * *

_"My name is Elijah Goldsworthy but I prefer Eli." Eli put his hand out in front of him and I looked at it consciously before shaking it. I smiled up at him while we shook hands. "I think you already know who I am?" I asked teasingly. Eli flashed me a smirk before saying, "I don't think we've ever meet before, I'm sure of it. I would've remembered those baby blue eyes anywhere."

Clare blushed lightly and turned around and walked back to the balance beam, lifting her arms up to help herself up. Over her back she said, "I'm K.C.'s wife and the name's Clare Edwards." Eli watched her through his emerald eyes as she slowly but swiftly got back up on the balance beam. When Eli had retired to go get ready for tonight's dinner, he remembered that he had left his watch in the mini gym at the "house."

When Eli walked into the gym, he saw a petite figure doing some extricate moves on the balance beam. He felt like shouting to get her attention since she was so focused on each move but forced himself not to when he saw a smile on her face. Whoever it was seemed at such peace and that made Eli smile too. He leaned his back against the glass wall and crossed his arms over his chest while watching this stunning sight. _It's not every day that you get to see a beautiful girl moving her body gracefully on the balance beam!_

Eli continued to watch her until she had jumped off the beam and her feet landed with a soft bounce. Her eyes were closed and she put her hands above her hand, as looking for cheers and admiration of an invisible crowd. He felt entitled to clap for her so he started to; his hands together made a loud resounding noise that bounced off the walls in the gym. He was still leaned up against the glass wall but he could tell that the auburn headed girl was confused and her head started moving to glance left and right, searching for where the noise was coming from.

The dark brown headed guy was tempted to walk up behind her and grab her from behind. Tell the young lady that she was being kidnapped and cup her mouth with his hand, so she couldn't scream; then turn her around and joke about it. He went against it because it reminded him to much of _her._Eli would always do that to scare _her._Different memories of her chocolate hair flying through the wind as they sped down the highway; the way she was smiling so lovingly at him through her Johnny Cash sunglass. The song, their song was playing on the radio and he was singing along, trying to serenade her but just getting her to laugh, oh that sweet laugh of hers. That was when life was _simple_.

Eli snapped out those memories and called out to the petite figure and she turned around. The first thing Eli noticed about her was her _stunning_ blue eyes. They contrasted with his emerald green eyes and weren't even close to _her_brown eyes. He walked up to her and introduced himself. She smiled as they shook hands; _he really wanted to know her name!_ She started to walk off and before she fully got onto the beam, she turned around and said she was K.C.'s wife; her name was Clare Edwards.

It hit Eli like a ton of bricks when she had revealed her identity. She had been married to his best friend! She was not what he had expected when K.C. had told him about his wife. K.C. had said that she was petite, long auburn hair, glasses, and sort of plumb. This was defiantly the total opposite of what Clare Edwards really looks like physically. Eli was glad that Clare couldn't see his reaction to her name and who she had been married to. Eli had been devastated when he had heard the news of the murder of K.C.

K.C. had been one of the first spies that had been recruited for Group 14, along with Eli. Then Adam had been recruited when K.C and Eli had been scouting out some deserted cow pastures and had found a brutally beaten Adam. Adam had been brutally beaten when he had tried to steal some illegal drugs from one of his drug dealers when he didn't have any more money. The drug dealer and three of his buddies had beaten Adam and had left his with a knife mark over his left eye. The mark started a little above his eyebrow and went about four inches beneath his left eyes, almost reaching his cheek bone. The Division recruiter director had been opposed to giving Adam a chance due to Adam almost dying but Eli and K.C. had convinced him to give Adam a chance.

Eli snapped out of those thoughts and watched as Clare did another routine of the beam. He could see the determination of Clare when he saw how squinted up her face was. Eli walked over to the weights and started looking for his watch. It was a black watch that his parents had given him for his 21st birthday a couple of months ago. He couldn't see anything so he got on his knees and started to crawl around the weights.

Clare could feel his eyes burning holes through her back but didn't say anything about it. After she had introduced herself, she had gotten back on the beam to practice some more. Her eyes flickered to Eli when she was standing on the beam and getting ready to do a cartwheel and saw the shock written all over his face. She smirked to herself and resumed to her routine. _Better start getting into shape for all this training Adam says I'm going to have to do._

After a few minutes, Clare glanced back at where Eli was standing but he wasn't there. She craned her neck so she could look around the gym and saw him scratching his head while looking around the weight set. He had a sad look on his face and seemed about to cry. In a flash Clare was over there where Eli was crawling around.

Clare stood over him while Eli continued to frantically search for his watch but to no avail. He noticed her shadow of his when it seemed a little darker from where he was crawling around and said, "Hey! Where did my light go?" Clare giggled a bit and then answered, "Aww! Does _Elijah_ need his light?" Eli turned his upper torso around and looked at Clare with a puppy dog face and nodded his head.

Shrugging, Clare got on her knees, getting out of his light and looked up at him while saying, "What exactly are looking for anyways? It doesn't really seem fun to just crawl around on the floor." Eli smirked at her knowing that she had been sarcastic about the last part before reply, "I need to find my watch. If I don't, then my parents are going to kill me!" Clare sarcastically replied, "Is little Eli scared about his parents?" Eli didn't answer but merely rolled his eyes. While they continued to search in silence, their hands were next to each other and Clare's left hand accidently landed on top of his. Clare immediately removed her hand while blushing. Eli just smirked but felt his hand tingling a bit by her touch.

Then a loud voice was heard from behind them calling Eli. "Eli! Where in hell are you?" The voice rang out from the gym door. Eli got up and brushed his black sweat pants off and then helped Clare up. He easily brought her up with a little too much force. Due to her being to light, she got face to face with Eli; their chests brushing up against the other while their breathing hiked up. Clare and Eli looked into the other's eyes.

* * *

"Damn Eli! I've been looking all over for you!" The voice shouted and it scared Clare a bit. She jumped back from Eli and turned to where the voice was coming from. In the door way, she saw a tiny dark-skinned figure and a pale tall figure behind the tiny girl. They both gasped when they saw Clare. "Hi, um my name is Clare." Clare waved and received two smiles from the girls in the door way. The dark-skinned one reminded her of Sav and figured that this was Ali.

"Hi, my name is Ali" and then she moved over so Clare could get a better view of the taller and paler girl, "This here is Fiona." They both waved at Clare. Then Clare heard a cough from beside her and looked over to see Eli. Eli then said, "Hey A.B. and Fi! What's up? What took ya'll to beat Jenna's ass in training today?" The two girls glared at Clare and then Ali walked over and yanked Clare's arm, causing a yelp out of Clare. Ali quickly apologized while Clare rubbed her forearm.

"As much as we'd love to chit chat with you Eli, we have to get ready for tonight's dinner! Drew, Adam, Sav, and Fitz should be up in a bit!" Fiona and Ali grabbed each of Clare's arms and dragged her out of the gym. Clare looked over her shoulder one last time and saw Eli wink at her and waved his hand in a shoo motion.

A petrified Clare was dragged off the girls' dorms. Ali started talking her head off, "I'm so glad we've met Clare! Now I finally get a roommate! First we need to get you ready for tonight! You need to look your best, so you can impress everybody!" Clare only smiled a tiny smile and looked over at Fiona. Fiona smiled a reassuring smile and that calmed Clare down to a certain degree.

Ali and Fiona sat her down in one of those twirling chairs, there were four chairs all side by side; each had a vanity with mirrors. They swung Clare's chair around and told her to relax and close her eyes. She did as she was told and they began their work. First they cleaned her face and then started on applying makeup. Ali began asking her questions, "So Clare, tell us about yourself?"

Clare spoke up, "I had a hell of a job before Sav, Drew, and Adam rescuing me. I lived by myself after K.C died. My parents hate me and I only have one sister but she's in Africa. My life is completely boring compared to you guys'." Ali and Fiona shrugged their shoulders but continued to apply makeup and brush her hair out. "I wish I could go shopping all day, go to designer's shop in New York; instead of having to constantly train for missions. It's quite boring since we never seen anybody else besides spies and don't get out much." Fiona sadly said.

Clare didn't know that was actually how spies lived. Sure they had a great life but they were sheltered from the world. They fought crime everyday probably and no one would acknowledge them and they had to careful wherever they went. She was surprised that they never got out of the Division headquarters. This what each of them had signed up for!

"Done! Now it's time for dresses!" Ali and Fiona both squealed as they spun Clare around so she could see her reflection. Clare didn't even recognize herself; she really hadn't ever used makeup since in her mind it wasn't necessary. She had a light coat of mascara, eye liner but just enough so her eyes were more visible, some blush, eye shadow, and some lip gloss. Clare jumped out of her seat and grabbed Fiona and Ali at the same time, crushing their necks in a hug. "Thank you! I love it! I really don't wear makeup but I love this look!" Clare gushed on about how perfect the makeup was while Fiona and Ali grinned.

* * *

Clare was ready with a white dress on. The dress stopped above her knees and the neck scooped low revealing some of her pale skin. Her right shoulder was exposed completely while her left shoulder and arm were covered. She watched as Ali and Fiona did touch ups on their flawless makeup and then watched as Ali strapped on a small pistol on her right inner lie. Her dress was pink and was long unlike Clare's and Fiona.

"Why are you wearing a pistol Ali?" Clare asked with confusion written all over her face when Ali looked at her. Ali chuckled and then answered, "No place on earth is always safe Clare. Anything could happen tonight, no matter how many cameras and security there is. Learn one thing Clare; never think you're completely safe, no matter what people say." Fiona nodded her head and Clare gulped._This is not what I signed up for!_The girls walked out of their dorms and went to the pool area. Ali then pulled out a compact mirror and a hologram popped up. The hologram was Sav and Ali spoke, "Hey big bro, Fiona, Clare, and I are ready. Do you want us to wait for you guys or already head up there?" Sav shook his head and told Ali to just go ahead that and that the guys would meet us up there.

Ali shut the pink mirror and went to the front door. She opened it and ushered us out before shutting the door behind her. We walked in silence until we arrived at an elevator. We got in and the elevator elevated up a few floors. I asked what floors were we passing and Fiona told me that we weren't elevating but going underground tunnels to the cafeteria. I got nervous as the elevator door dinged open and we all stepped out.

There were to waiters at the cafeteria doors and they opened the doors when Ali and Fiona showed them some sort of ID. They nodded and pushed the doors open. They walked in before me and I was amazed at what I saw. There were tables all around this area with dozens of people sitting and them or just talking with other people. I could smell the buffet from where I was standing.

There four buffet lines, one for the main dish, a salad bar, desserts, and appetizers. It took Clare a few seconds to realize that these were all spies! All these people put their lives in risk and here they were laughing and having a good time with each other. Ali tugged Clare over to where a table was. The table had a paper reading, "Group 14" on it.

As they sat down, eight people started walking towards the table. Ali, Fiona, and Clare got up and walked to where they were. Ali and Fiona started introducing Clare to the rest of the clan. Clare recognized Adam, Sav, and Drew when she saw them. Sav and Drew waved at her from where they were standing; with their arms around their girlfriends' shoulders, Ali and Holly J. Holly J seemed kind enough and seemed to buddies with Fiona more then with Ali.

Ali introduced Clare to Fitz and his girlfriend Bianca. Bianca was drop dead gorgeous with her black curly hair and then strapless red cocktail dress she was wearing. Fitz shook her hand and welcomed her in the Group 14 with a smile on his face. They excused themselves to go get some food while the other sat down in their chairs.

Zane and Riley were practically jumping up and down when they met Clare. They wouldn't stop telling her compliments on her dress, makeup, and hair. Zane also said, "Clare Riley and I are going to be your trainers. So be ready by 06:00 tomorrow to start practicing." Clare nodded grimly and Zane smiled at the look he received. They all sat down and start individual conversations with each other. Clare noticed that Eli wasn't with them and asked Drew where he was. Drew shrugged and said he hadn't seen him since training late afternoon.

Then the chair next to Clare was pulled out and a body dropped in it. "I didn't know you missed me that much Edwards! I'm flattered!" A low voice said in Clare's ear which made her shiver. Eli smirked at the fact that he had made Clare move uncomfortably. Clare looked over at him and said, "Don't flatter yourself Elijah!" Eli rolled his eyes and sternly said, " I told you I don't like it when people call me Elijah!"

"I don't really care!" Bantered Clare right back at Eli. "What'll take to make you shut up Edwards?" Eli playfully said back. "I don't know Elijah!" Clare fired back at him. "Fine I'll just tickle you!" Eli said as he wiggled his finger in front of Clare menacingly. Clare started to whimper due to her being extremely ticklish. Before Eli could get his fingers on her stomach to tickle her, a voice rang out for the spies to take their seats and quiet down.

* * *

Sorry if this chapter is kinda boring. I had basketball practice right after school that lasted like 30 minutes later then it was supposed to due to Coach W. not having a watch. I got home all sweat,swam, did homework(the usual). Then sat down at the computer and typed for 2 hours straight for this chapter. I needed to sorta hurry up since I have to practice guitar badly. I'm learning chord right now so my fingers hurt extremely! For all you guitar players, I admire you!  
So anyways, comment on this chapter; feel free to tell me if you liked it or not, don't worry I can take the criticism! :D


	3. Black Eyes,Beer,& Chicken Wars

**Black Eyes, Beer, Chicken Wars**

Clare slowly made her way back to the Group 14 house. She was tired from the long meeting that went on tonight. The Division's headmaster, Mr. West talked about some upcoming missions and then Dave and Wesley showed off some new gadgets. The spies were thrilled about the thought of new gadgets but Clare could care less. Since she wasn't exactly a spy, she had no need for gadgets just _yet._

Ali and Drew had decided to go for a late night swim while many of the others headed off to their quarters to get some sleep since they had to report at O5:00 the next morning. When Clare walked into her new room that she shared with Ali, she saw an extra bed that was made up and had a pair of pajamas neatly folded on top of the blue comforter. She took the pajamas and headed to the bathroom to change. She was too tired to take a shower and would do in the morning.

She stripped her clothes and quickly changed into the pjs. Clare made her way back to the room down the hall and then decided to go get drink water from the kitchen. She could hear a few giggles then followed with a deep laughter coming from the pool outside. She smiled at the thought of Ali and Drew having fun, despite being spies.

In the kitchen, she saw the fridge door open and a glimpse of brown hair. She got behind the boy and looked over his shoulder. She timidly said, "Could you pass me a bottle of water while you're rummaging around in there?" The boy stopped what he was doing and turned around, facing Clare. He was smiling and handed Clare a bottle of water.

Clare thought it had been Adam rummaging around in the fridge but it was Fitz. He put his hand out in front of him and said, "It's nice to finally meet the famous Clare K.C. would always talk about!" Clare shook his hand and replied politely, "I guess same goes for you Fitz. Thanks for getting me a bottle of water." Fitz nodded and closed the fridge.

Clare and Fitz talked small talk before Clare excused herself to go to bed. She hurried off to the room, jumped into bed and turned off the lamp beside her. Her head hit the pillow and she continued to stare at the ceiling. She was exhausted but wasn't exactly ready to close her eyes and fall asleep. She thought about the dance that had taken place at the big dinner tonight.

_

* * *

Clare sat there bored with the others while Mr. West went on and on about the Division had expanded into creating a base in China. People looked bored and kept going back for more and more food. Clare wasn't hungry much and ended up just getting a plate of green beans while all of the guys, Eli, Adam, Fitz, Sav, Drew, Riley, and Zane, piled their plates with more and more food. Clare saw that each one of the spies surrounded by her at the table was different. _

_They were a mix of different all bunched up together in one group. Clare thought it was funny that even in a couple of hours, she could tell what Ali's personality was like compared to Fiona's. Ali was a little more outgoing then Fiona and had a very loud squealing voice. Fiona, on the other hand, was quieter and spoke calmly. Yet together they loved shopping for clothes and hanging out together. They didn't seem like spies. _

_Mr. West went on and on about how important the Division was to humanity. Then he smiled and said into the microphone, "We have a special guest that will be joining us from here on out. She is new and will need some time to get used to seeing thousands of spies in one place. So please try to make her feel comfortable. Clare Edwards, would you please come up here." His arm outstretched to where I was sitting quietly. _

_All of a sudden, curious eyes were on me and faces appeared in my sight. Some were smiling while others just looked at me curiously. I swallowed and began to get out of my seat. I had to tell myself left foot then right foot as I began to walk towards the front of the room. Then I tripped over my feet and I stumbled, before I could hit the floor, a pair of arms grabbed my bicep. The arms helped me stand back up and I looked up to thank the person that had helped me up. _

_Emerald clashed with azure. When Clare saw who it was, her mouth clamped up and she couldn't get the words thank you to stumble out of her mouth. She could only smile and Eli smirked back. Eli continued to walk by her side as she made it to the podium where Mr. West was waiting for her. Mr. West extended an arm and helped Clare hop up onto the stage. He smiled at Eli and then Eli headed back to his seat. Clare saw Ali and Drew look at him with their eyebrows slightly raised but in response, Eli just shrugged while smirking. _

_After I told a little of myself, I retreated back to my seat. I felt eyes burning holes through my skin as I walked back. Eli, who was seating next to me, got up and moved my chair back so I could sit down quicker. I sat down and he scooted my chair up to the table and then sat down next to me. I managed to say thank you when the room began to grow louder again. He winked at me and said, "No problem Agent C." _

* * *

Clare fell asleep with a smile on her face as she thought of Eli's new nickname for her. Clare would begin her training tomorrow with Riley and Zane. She didn't know if she was ready or not since she certainly didn't know what type of training there was going to be. She would know at 05:00 the next morning, but right now, dreams about K.C. flooded her mind.

"Clare! Clare! Clare! Get up!" A rather impatient voice kept saying over and over again, trying to get Clare to wake up. Ali needed to be at training a little earlier to set up the basic rules with the guys when Clare started training with Riley and Zane. There would be no messing around when it came to training Clare. Mr. West would be putting Clare through a practice mission in 6 months and she would need to be ready by then. Riley and Zane were the most fit out of the group and had volunteered to train Clare.

Ali began to shake Clare violently to finally get a very sleepy Clare out of her slumber. "Clare, I'm sorry but we have to start getting ready for training today! It's your first day and you don't need to be late. We have to fly!" Clare shot out of bed and then realized that she didn't have any workout clothes. Ali seemed to know what Clare needed and threw her some sweat pants and a blue camisole.

Clare didn't care if Ali was there and threw off her pajamas and quickly put on the camisole and sweat pants. She brushed out her hair and pulled it up in a ponytail. Ali wasn't in the room when she returned from going to the bathroom and brushing her teeth. She heard her name being called from down the hall and headed towards the source of the voice. Ali saw Clare make her way to the kitchen and tossed her a water bottle. "You're going to need it! Riley and Zane are tough!" Ali admitted to Clare.

Clare saw an apple of the table and grabbed it before making her way to the front door. Ali was right behind her and Clare opened the door and let Ali walk out before her. Clare shut the door behind her and they started walking towards the main gym. They started running when they saw that it was 3 minutes till 05:00. They ran through the glass doors of the gym shouting, "We're here!"

Other spies from different groups looked up from what they were doing and threw angry looks at the girls as they passed them looking for the guys. Clare and Ali looked left and right for the guys until Ali spotted Drew.

Ali grabbed Clare arm and rushed her towards where Drew was and threw smiles at the angry faces still coming their way. Clare was pretty embarrassed at what had just happened and her cheeks were scarlet red. She refused to look up from her feet after she looked at someone's angry face. Drew looked up from lifting weights and saw Ali heading straight towards him.

Drew put down the barbells he was lifting and met Ali half way. He smiled at her and then lightly feather kissed her on the cheek. He hadn't noticed a very embarrassed Clare behind Ali. When he did, he whispered, "Ali loves dramatic entrances, especially with people's attention." Clare lifted her eyes to look at Drew and saw he had a smile on his face.

Ali scoffed and then pushed Clare forwards with Drew behind them. They passed many others on treadmills, cross trainers, exercise bikes, lifting weights, or just chatting with others. _All these people are fit compared to me! _Thought Clare to herself. Ali and Drew led her through another set of glass doors and there were Zane and Riley waiting.

The guy with spikey jet black hair's head shot up when he saw the door opened and saw Ali, Drew, and Clare walk in. He opened his mouth ready to rat them off for being late but Ali held up her hand to silence him. "Sorry, could you please let this slide! It's her first day!" Ali pleaded with Zane. Zane was a very good natured person, rarely ever getting made, and had compassion for Clare when he saw how nervous she was.

He smiled and nodded at Ali and then walked over to where Clare was standing. She was starring at the uneaten apple in her right hand and then her eyes would drift off to starring at the floor. "Are you ready to start your training Clare?" His voice must have startled Clare because the apple fell out of hand and then Zane caught it. Clare stood there amazed at how fast Zane had been with his reflects. "Th-thank you Zane."

Zane smiled back and Clare saw that he had very pointy teeth and shiny white teeth. She nodded at his question and he led her to where Riley was sitting bored. He introduced Riley and Clare again and then they walked over to where a 3 huge blue mats lay spread all over the room. Riley told Clare to stretch and make sure to get her calves stretched or else she would be even sorer.

Clare stretched her legs across from each other and stretched her hands to touch one of her feet and counted to ten. She rotated and went to the other foot doing to the same thing with counting to ten while touching her foot. Zane then turned to Ali and Drew and said, "Sorry but we are to train her without any disturbances so you guys need to leave." Ali began to pout but Drew tugged on her arm and dragged her out of the room.

When the door shut behind them, Riley and Zane turned around and saw Clare doing cartwheels and back flips in the air. They smiled at the thought that they wouldn't have to teach her how to do back flips or cartwheels. When she had done at least 10 cartwheels and rotated between back flips and front flips, they called her over to where they were watching her.

"Where did you learn how to do cartwheel and front flips?" Riley asked Clare.

She responded with that she had taken gymnastics for 10 years until she met K.C. Riley then thanked Clare for already knowing how to do those things so now they didn't have to teach her to how to those easy things. Riley and Zane then started asking her other questions.

"Do you eat healthy or tend to eat junk food?"Riley asked seriously. Health was a big thing for them and they didn't eat a ton of junk food like some of the other spies.

"I tend to eat healthy since I was a gymnast; I grew into the habit of eating healthy things."

"Good, you're going to need a long of strength for some of the exercises that you will be doing everyday and be in shape." Then after a couple more questions, the three got up and headed back to the mat.

Zane grabbed a jump rope and handed it to Clare. He told her to start jump roping and to keep doing it until he made her stop. She began at a slow pace and waited for him to tell her to stop but he didn't. He told her go faster and she did. Through her peripheral vision, she saw Riley setting up one punching bag. Zane continued to tell Clare to pick up the pace with the jump rope. She picked up the pace each time and grew tired each time she did. Her legs and arms were beginning to hurt from moving up and down.

Finally Zane told her she could stop. Clare stopped and could feel sweat travel down the sides of her face and rest of her brow. Zane handed her a hand towel and she wiped her face off. Her arms were sweaty and legs felt tired. Zane directed her to where Riley was waiting with his arms folded over his chest.

"Clare, when you're out on missions, sometimes you have to physical fight the enemy. You need to be able to throw a good punch. I'm going to teach you with the help of Zane." Riley confidently said and a breathless Clare only nodded.

He handed her some gloves to put on and then helped her get into position. He got behind her and moved her to in front of the punching bag and then he told her to spread her legs a little apart. She did and then he told her that she would start off slowly at the punching.

"You're going to tighten you're grip each time you hit the bag, unless you want a broken knuckle or wrist. Zane is going to stand behind the bag and hold it still so it won't move. You're just going to hit it over and over again, rotating with each hand and you can even use your leg to kick." Riley smiled assuring Clare as he saw her worried face. Zane got behind the bag and held it still as Clare began to punch the bag.

Riley wanted Clare to punch it harder but each time he told her to, she kept punching the same. "Pretend that that's K.C.'s killer! You want to punch and kick him as hard as you can!" Riley said angrily and then saw Zane's face harden after his words fell out of his mouth. Something struck inside of Clare and she began to punch the bag harder and harder.

Riley started to praise Clare when she looked at him. Her jaw was clenched tightly with her eyes full of furry. Her eyebrows were buried beneath her eyelashes and her teeth were clenched together. With her teeth clenched she angrily said, "Don't praise K.C.'s death." The smile on Riley's face immediately fell and he looked at Zane. Zane had an expression of shock written all over his face.

"I was trying to make you punch the bag harder because you couldn't seem to do so!" Riley stated. "I didn't need you to tell me that K.C.'s dead!"

Clare threw the gloves on the ground and then faced Riley.

"I already know he's dead! I went to his funeral! I SAW him die! You didn't Riley! I DID!" Clare shouted in his face.

Riley's eye then filled with furry and he shouted back, "He was one of my best friends! You're not the only one that grieved over his death!"

His fists were clenched so tightly, his hands were turning red. When he looked back up at Clare, a fist came to his face and made contact with his eye. He was down on the ground in seconds with Zane right at his side. Clare shook her head a couple of times before realizing she had punched one of her trainers! She got on Riley's other side and dropped on her knees.

"I'm so sorry Riley! I can't believe I did that! Why did I do that?" Clare started asking out loud while she kept repeating sorry to Riley.

Riley had one of his hands on his eye and held up the other to get Clare's attention. "It's ok Clare. I got you to punch me as hard as you could. Although I thought it would be the punching bag and not me." Riley removed his hand and had Zane look at his eye.

After a few seconds at looking at Riley's eye, Zane looked at Clare and said, "He'll defiantly have a black eye by tomorrow. I wish I had been the one to punch him!" Zane started chuckling and then Clare did after she saw the Riley wasn't mad. Zane sat down next to Riley, they both sat facing Clare.

"I'm sorry for saying what I said about K.C. Clare, I didn't mean it that way and I really just shouldn't have said that." Riley said kindly. Clare smiled compassionately at Riley and then moved over to give him a hug. Riley received the hug generously and they sat there embracing. Zane then cleared his throat and the two separated.

"It's really just hard to know that someone intentionally killed K.C. I mean I had last seen him smiling at me and telling to me to do something outside of the house." Clare confessed to Riley and Zane as they sat in a semi-circle.

Riley and Zane nodded but it was sort of ordinary to them to hear about a cold case murder. They were spies and spies killed people daily to protect innocent people. Zane grimly said, "Clare you do know that spies kill other spies everyday right? I mean that's what our job is, what K.C.'s job was and now what your job is." Clare looked up slowly at Zane and then her eyes traveled around the room but avoided Zane's intense eyes penetrating her.

Clare let Zane's words sink in, the echo of them going through her mind as she processed them. _Murder, killing, I'm a killer now. That's what K.C. was. They don't look like murders but they are. They are supposed to not look like potential killers. That's what spies are; people who you think are one thing but always turn out to be something else. _

* * *

Before Zane could question Clare, the door flew open and in stepped Eli. He was drenched in sweat, you could see sweat drops going down the sides of his face dripping off of his chocolate hair. He was wearing a white wife beater with basketball black gym shorts. He walked over to where the threesome was sitting and put his hand on Zane's shoulder.

Zane looked up at Eli and then remembered what Riley and he had to go do; he jumped up and then snapped his fingers at Riley. Riley nodded his head and then jumped up, leaving Clare sitting there. He and Zane started walking off then realized that Clare was still there. Riley turned around and then helped Clare up from where she was sitting.

He put his arms around her, embracing her in a big bear hug, whispering in her ear, "You'll get through this tragedy with K.C. but first you have to learn how to kick ass so when we catch K.C.'s killer we can kick their ass. " Riley looked into Clare's eyes and she smiled sadly. He kissed her on the forehead and then turned around and started walking towards the door. Zane waved over his shoulder and winked at Clare. She returned a wave but smiled instead of winking.

"Where are they going?" Clare bluntly asked.

Eli looked sternly at her and she looked at her feet feeling heat radiate to her cheeks. She looked back up at Eli's face, waiting for an answer. Eli noticed her blushing and smirked at her. She was so easy to embarrass and he loved making her blush. He told her that they had to go try out new gadgets that only they would be using.

Eli escorted her out of the gym and they talked while walking back to the Group house. He explained how every group member got a special gadget that was purposely designed for just them to operate. Wesley and Dave were still working on each member's gadgets since they had to be perfect and completely able to be operated by just that person.

All the other groups had the gadgets and no gadget was alike. Eli was going to get his gadget soon but usually Wesley and Dave would watch the person that they were designing the gadget for and then decide what it would be. Every gadget was recorded on the computer's database and the directions and instructions how to use the gadget were encrypted into a chip that were in Dave's and Wesley's brains.

Clare was amazed at how precise each step and each gadget was needed to perfect but hey, they're spies! Eli went on about the gadgets and how each person in the group played a special role in completing a mission. There was no slacking off when people are at risk of dying. Holly J would be at the main office with an ear chip to tell us where to go. She was the brains of the group and took care of the computers and the coordinates.

"Sav's always in charge of the missions no matter what." Eli explained happily. "So Sav's the captain of the Group?" Clare asked. "He is but doesn't like to be called the captain but just Sav. So then it depends on the mission what everyone else's job is. Usually we put Adam and Fiona in charge of guarding the perimeters while the rest of the group goes in and checks out the area."

They had reached the door and Eli punched in the numbers 48579 on the number pad. Then a finger pad flipped open and Eli pressed his thumb onto it and then a monotone voice said, "Agent Eli Goldsworthy." Then the door flew open and Eli let Clare go in before him. His nose picked up the scent of warm vanilla sugar lotion as she closely walked by him to get in the door.

Clare saw Drew, Ali, Adam, Fiona, Bianca, and Fitz swimming in the pool with plastic cups in their hands. They were laughing and telling stories about their high school lives. Clare walked up to the pool and Ali cried out, "C'mon Clare! There's a bikini lying on your bed ready to be used!" Clare smiled excitedly and practically ran to the room.

Sure enough, there was a bikini lying on the bed. Clare closed the door and stripped off her clothes and slipped on the bikini. It fortunately fit her and she looked in the mirror that was on the backside of the door. She saw pictures of Group and some of Ali and Drew. As she looked at the picture of the Group, she saw K.C. with his arm wrapped around Eli and a girl next to Eli.

_She must be that girl Adam was talking about. What's her name? Ugh! I can't remember!_ She saw familiar faces smiling at the camera.

They all had their arms around each other. Drew had one of his arms draped over Ali's shoulder while his other arm was around Adam's neck. Adam's hand was around Fiona's while she had her hand around his waist. Her other arm was wrapped around Sav. Sav's arm was wrapped around Holly J's. The unfamiliar girl had one of arms wrapped around Holly J and the other around Eli's neck. Then Eli's arm was wrapped around her waist and his other around K.C.'s neck. Riley had his arm wrapped around K.C's neck and Zane's. Bianca and Fitz were last with Zane's arm wrapped around Bianca's neck with Fitz's arm wrapped around her waist. They all looked truly happy to be with each other. A _real _family is what they were.

It was a really cute picture and then there was another picture of Ali, Fiona, Holly J, Bianca, and the unfamiliar girl on their boyfriend's backs. Ali was on Drew's, Fiona on Adam's, Holly J on Sav's, Bianca on Fitz's and the girl on Eli's. The guys all had genuine smiles on their faces and so did the girls. True happiness was being shown in these two pictures.

She put the pictures back on the mirror trying to get them to stick the back in the edges of the mirror and then looked at her reflection in the mirror. A turquoise bikini that fit Clare's curves really well. She tied the top part in the back, let it fall on her neck and examined the bottoms. It was a string bikini but didn't bother Clare.

She grabbed a towel and headed to the pool. She saw the others still playing around in the pool but didn't see Eli. Adam seemed to have noticed that Clare was looking for a certain someone and said," He'll be here in a minute. He's grabbing some more beers." Clare blushed that Adam knew who she was looking for and Adam smiled at her. "Take it slow with him. He hasn't dated much since….well since her." Adam said quietly to Clare.

She nodded and then a pair of hands picked her up bridal style and leaned over the edge of the pool. Clare looked down at the pool water and back up at Eli. She clung onto his neck for dear life. She wasn't getting dropped in the pool without a fight. Eli felt her whimper and then slowly rocked her back and forth. He could hear the other cheering him on while Clare whisper-shouted at him to put her down.

"I'm not getting dropped in the pool without you!" She shouted in his ear.

He looked at her face and wiggled his eyebrows up and down suggestively. Clare groaned and then Eli jumped into the pool. Clare felt a rush of water flood her ears and mouth. She closed her eyes when they were underwater. She made her way to surface and her head popped up.

The others cheered when they saw her head pop up above the water and then she felt a hand grab her elbow. She turned to her side and saw Eli pop out of the water. His hair was all over his face and then he shook it. Water getting sprayed all over Clare and the other girls and then his hair was sticking up. She giggled at the sight.

Then Fitz threw Clare and Eli each a beer. Eli popped his open and started chugging his. Clare just put it on the pool's edge. She had never drunken a beer and wasn't planning to start anytime soon. The others asked her how training was and Eli told them that she had punched Riley and left him with a black eye. Everyone started laughing about that and asked her why she had punched him. Clare just shrugged her shoulders.

Fiona then suggested that they play chicken wards in teams. She picked Adam, Eli, and Clare to be on her team. The Drew, Ali, Fitz, and Bianca would be on the other team. Clare and Eli were up first going against Ali and Drew. Clare got on Eli's shoulders and then walked towards the middle of the pool waiting for Ali and Drew to hurry up. Then the chicken war began!

* * *

If you made it the entire chapter then congratulations (: I was not planning on having a long chapter at all. This is considered long for me cause I usually like to stick to atleast over 2,500 words! I'm not sick anymore so be expecting a lot more updates and sooner too. I posted a poll on my profile about which date would be best to update this story since I think I'm going to stick with this story and see where it goes! I have a lot planned for this story and have so many ideas about where I want to take this story and incorporate the people into the story.

Please, if you want this story to be updated regularly, then go to my profile and do the poll! SO I can figure out what day I will be updating each week!

**PM's** me if you have any questions or ideas, hit me up cause I would love ideas ,questions,comments, anything! (:

**COMMENT !**

Farewell for now!


	4. Announcements,Tomatoes,& Chocolate Syrup

**Announcements, Diced Tomatoes, & Chocolate Syrup**

The chicken wars were starting with Clare and Eli against Drew and Ali. The two couples got into position while Fiona and Adam watched from the side. Adam made sure that both couples were ready to begin the fight and then yelled enthusiastically, "Go!" Then Eli and Drew marched forward while Clare and Ali put their hands out in front of them.

Clare grabbed Ali's hands and started pushing her backwards with all her strength. Ali started fighting back and Clare took note of how strong Ali was, even for someone so tiny. Drew kicked Eli in the shin and Eli started losing his balance. Luckily, he caught himself and then kicked Drew low blow. Drew immediately fell and Ali fell into the water in the process.

Fitz, Bianca, Adam, and Fiona started laughing at the used to be invincible chicken war warriors pouting and saying it wasn't fair. Clare and Eli were laughing and high fiving each other. When Clare saw how sad Drew was, she climbed off of Eli's shoulders and wadded to where Drew was sulking. She put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Sorry about the defeat Drew. Were you and Ali really the invincible couple at chicken wars?"

Drew nodded and then smiled at Clare. "Guess we weren't good enough for team Eclare!" Clare blushed at the nickname while Eli just smirked. Adam and Fiona congratulated Eli and Clare for their win while Bianca and Fitz excused themselves to get some beers from the kitchen and asked if anyone else wanted another beer. Barring Clare, everyone said yes.

When Fitz and Bianca left, Fiona looked at Clare with a very confused look, "You don't drink Edwards?" Clare turned slightly pink and shook her head. "I've never had a drink in my life. I was always taught that it was wrong." Clare looked at her wrinkled hands wanting to hide from the disapproving green eyes. She was embarrassed about never having drunk before and decided that it was probably time that she try a beer.

When the couple returned, they handed out beers to everyone, but Clare of course. Ali suggested that they move to the Jacuzzi since it was getting a tad bit cold. They all agreed and quickly got out of the pool and jumped into the small, circular Jacuzzi. Clare ended up sitting between Eli and Adam. Next to Eli was Fitz then Bianca and Ali and Drew were across from Clare, and Fiona sat next to Adam.

They popped the tops off their beers and started drinking them. Clare felt out of place with all the beers around her, but didn't say anything. Eli seemed to have noticed her discomfort and asked her, "You want to try it?" He raised any eyebrow and nudged her with the beer. She thought about it for a second before taking the bottle and taking a big sip. The others had their beers in one hand as they watched Clare chug a bottle of beer.

Eli grabbed the bottle from her grasp before she drained the entire bottle. Clare looked around and felt a bit dizzy and burped. The others started laughing and then decided to tell Clare a bit about themselves. She felt a bit lightheaded, but managed to listen to what each said.

They went around in a circle saying something about them. Fitz and Bianca said that they used to be in a mental asylum and escaped and landed in the hands of the Division. Clare made a mental note to ask them later about that. Then came Ali, she said that she had been separated from her family when she was just a girl and had been a kidnapped by a scientist that ended up experimenting on her. She had escaped and met Drew who had already joined the Division.

Drew had been the track star at school until an accident landed him in the emergency room. Clare noticed Adam's jaw tighten as Drew said this. Drew went into a coma and was pulled off life support. Then somehow he woke up in the medical room at the Division. He met Eli and K.C. who had rescued him from death. He became part of the Group 14 and started his training. Then he ran into Ali one day as he was driving around Canada. Fiona went next and said she had been adopted by this young couple that had gone missing and was left to wander on the streets.

Adam found her after a year of being in the Division. Clare realized the most of the recruits of the Division were off the streets, left behind, or didn't have any families. She was so glad she was able to become a part of this family! Adam said that Eli and Fitz had found him almost dead in a cow pasture after being beaten by three drug dealers that Adam had tried to steal some cocaine from. Eli refused to say anything about himself and Clare wondered why. Everyone else just nodded when Eli said he didn't want to share.

Clare asked Adam, "If you're Drew's brother then how come you weren't recruited along with him?"

Adam sighed before replying. "When Drew had been taken off of live support, my whole world crashed. I started taking drugs since it seemed like my brother was dead. Then after three years of doing drugs, I had no more money. My parents refused to let me stay with them so I lived out on the streets just wandering about day and night. I got into a fight with the drug dealers and ended up in the Division thanks to Eli and Fitz."

Clare awed by of the story about how Adam was found and gave him a side hug. She noticed that Adam was crying a bit and when Fiona kissed his cheek and he turned red. She would have to ask Adam about his status with Fiona since last time he'd said that they were just _friends_.

Clare's head was spinning when she stumbled towards the kitchen. It was way past her bedtime, but she needed some cold water before going to bed. On the way, she thought about how dramatically life had changed in only four months. She had gotten used to the idea of getting up early in the morning and going to bed late; it was all just a routine now. She had gotten extremely close to Ali, Adam, and Fiona in these last 4 months. Fiona was incredible at calming people down while Ali was extremely talented at getting people hyper.

Adam and Fiona had officially announced their relationship a few nights ago when all the team was eating dinner together around the pool. Fitz and Clare had had their tiny talks about his life before coming into the Division. It was an extremely interesting story because he had been a rich snotty kid, but when his parents died, his uncle had him put into an insane asylum for hearing voices, saying he was schizophrenic. It wasn't true at all.

When Adam had told everyone about Fiona and him, he had a smile on his face that was so big that it wouldn't wear off for the entire night. The group had decided against eating in the cafeteria and decided that Clare and Eli would cook dinner. Eli was the chef in the house, but would need an assistant. Clare recalled the memory of being called Eli's _lovely_ assistant, the pool party, and the food fight she had seen right after the pool party.

_Just at sunrise, before the group headed off to training, Adam had gathered the group around the pool area to say that he and Fiona had important news for everyone, but they'd have wait till it was night. The group already had a feeling about what they were going to tell them, but didn't want to spoil their fun. Eli smirked when Adam said he had news and had volunteered to cook dinner for the big announcement. _

_Eli looked at Ali, but all she did was point at her nails. "Fiona just did a manicure on me and I do not need, or want, to mess my nails up, since you'll be cooking Lasagna!" Eli nodded his head and turned to Drew who had his arm around Ali's shoulder. Before Eli could ask him, Drew tiredly said, "Sorry bro gotta try my new gadgets tonight before dinner." _

_Before Eli could ask Fitz, Fitz said he couldn't since he had to try out his new gadget with Bianca. Clare hadn't really paid attention to what Eli had been asking the group, so she was looking at her toes squirming around below her. Everyone in the kitchen looked at who hadn't spoken up about being busy; Clare was the only one who hadn't said anything. All eyes were on Clare, who still was looking at the floor. Then Clare looked up when she didn't hear anymore talking. When she looked up, she saw all the eyes on her and jumped back. _

_Eli smirked and then pointed at Clare saying, "You my dear are going to be my lovely assistant for tonight's dinner at 19:00." He then walked out of the kitchen with Clare calling after him. "Eli! Eli! I'm not….. the best… cook!" She shouted running after him, but he was out of the house, not without turning around and winking. A hand tapped Clare's shoulder lightly and said, "Sorry Clare, but Eli's the cook in the house. You don't really need to help, just sit on the counter and watch him do all the work; easy enough!" _

_Clare laughed while turning around and smiling at Ali. "I guess I'm Eli's lovely assistant." The girls started laughing at Clare's comment and headed out the door. Clare headed to the gym while Ali went in the other direction to go to the gadget lab. Clare hadn't been called to the gadget lab to try to gadgets nor had Wesley figure out which gadget would fit best for her. Clare had been here for about 4 months and wanted to figure out what was behind those big white heavy doors. _

_She waved good-bye to Ali and then walked towards where her training was. Zane and Riley were amazing trainers! Clare had learned how to throw punches and Riley made sure he steered clear out of her way while she practiced punching. They had moved onto kicking your opponent and trying to find their weak spot. Riley's weak spot when fighting Clare was that he never wanted to physically hurt her, so he pretty much always went easy on her. _

_After a long strenuous workout with the trainers, Clare headed to the weights. She ran thirty minutes on the treadmill while listening to music. The gym was packed with other spies, mostly talking about their new gadgets they'd received early that day. Clare hated not being able to engage in conversations about new gadgets. _

_When Clare had gotten back to the house, there was no one else there. She jumped in the shower and washed her hair. After she had washed her hair, she stood there, letting the warm water run over her sweaty body. She was still breathing hard from the treadmill and then racing against Zane in a friendly competition. Zane won and hadn't even broken into a sweat when Clare had. _

_After she had gotten dressed in a pair of Ali's denim shorts and a one-shoulder light blue shirt; she went back to the room. Clare towel dried her hair and then sprayed some Berry perfume from Bath and Body Works. Satisfied with the way she looked and smelled, she walked to the kitchen. She heard some pots and pans clanking against each other and then being set on the counter. _

_Clare hopped on the small island in the middle of the kitchen and waited for Eli to stop getting pans out from the cabinets below the counter. "Oh Eli! I'm ready to start cooking!" An impatient Clare said to Eli's attention. "Patience is a virtue Clare." Eli said before getting off of his knees and closing the cabinets. _

_He walked by Clare and opened the fridge. Eli looked up and down the fridge's shelves before getting out ground beef, onions, and tomatoes. Then shut the fridge door and took out a cutting board and a knife, then handed them to Clare. Clare took them glumly and glared at Eli. "Don't think you'd be getting out of helping me cook tonight Clare." She got off the counter and then grabbed the tomatoes to chop them up. _

_She began to chop them up while Eli put the ground beef in a pot and started to heat them up over the stove. They worked in silence with their backs towards each other. "Chop chop" went the knife as it cut the tomatoes in small pieces and hit the cutting board. After about 10 minutes of chopping tomatoes, Clare felt a hand touch her right side of her waist and snaked its way in front of her. _

_She stopped moving the knife and watched as the hand grabbed a small piece of tomato and whipped back behind her. Clare turned her head to the side and saw Eli's smirk. Eli popped the tomato in his mouth and chewed it. "Delicious as always!" Eli told Clare excitedly. She laughed and turned around to start chopping again. _

_Before she wielded the knife again, Eli put his hand over hers. He leaned in close to her ear and whispered lightly, "I think we have enough tomatoes diced." His voice was low and it made the hairs on Clare's arms stand up. She put down the knife and hopped back up on the counter. Eli smirked at her while glaring, but Clare just stuck out her tongue. _

_Clare watched as Eli put another pot on the stove and dropped the diced tomatoes and onions in and stirred them. The smell of cooked onions got to her nose and she closed her eyes as she smelled them. K.C. would always cook meals like this for her when she was stressed out or when he had extra time away from work. Other than that, they would just eat macaroni and cheese for dinner. She was definitely going to enjoy tonight's meal. _

_Eli watched as Clare had closed her eyes and inhaled the smell of the cooking onions, tomatoes, and ground beef. When he had told her that the tomatoes were cut up enough, Clare's breath hiked up. He had learned to cook from his father when he was 13. Eli had been more than happy to know that he knew how to cook when he had joined the Division. The other team mates had also been happy to know that there was one good cook on the team. _

_Soon the lasagna was in the oven and baking; it would be ready in one hour. Clare and Eli had started to play twenty questions while cleaning up the kitchen and washing the dishes. "So how long have you been in the Division?" Clare asked Eli while putting the dishes in the dishwasher. Eli thought for a minute before responding. "It'll be five years this year." _

_Clare bit her lip so she would not ask about his past or Julia, but decided to ask about his parents. "So what are your parents like?" Clare began to wipe the kitchen counter top with a small, wet towel. Eli laughed while responding. "My mom is a hippie who loves her son like crazy and my dad works in a car shop." He paused before asking Clare, "What are your parents like Agent C?" _

"_Cruel, uncaring, unbearable, and horrible." Clare immediately responded, not even having to think about the answer. "Why do you say that?" Eli curiously asked. Clare sighed and closed her eyes while recalling memories of her parents. "My parents were always telling me that I couldn't make mistakes in life, pushing me to do my best in everything. From the first grade I would have to make straight A's to get their approval." Clare felt the tears coming to her eyes. _

_Eli seemed to have noticed and told her she could stop telling him about her parents, but she told him that she wanted him to know. He nodded and she continued. "Anyways, I did gymnastics since I was 5 and stopped then I was 15. If I didn't get the routine the first time, then I would have to practice it until my mom told me I could stop. She was one of my coaches while a man named Coach Dalton was my main coach."_

_Clare took a breath before continuing her story. "My parents divorced when I was 15 and they hated it when I started dating K.C. and they didn't even come to my wedding or ever visit me. The last time I spoke to them was when I told them I was engaged to K.C. and the last time I saw them was at the funeral." Eli took a few minutes to process all that Clare poured out to him about her parents. Her life had been different then his. His parents were eccentric, but supported him in everything he did. _

_Clare went outside and set up plates on the table that faced the pool and got silverware out and arranged them on the table. It was almost time for the group to start dinner and for Adam and Fiona's big announcement. The others had returned while Eli and Clare were washing dishes and getting ready. _

_When everyone was seated around the table, Eli brought out the lasagna accompanied with salad and Parmesan cheese. The guys immediately dug into the lasagna and passed plates of lasagna to the girls. The girls passed their plates to the guys and they put slabs of lasagna on the plates and started eating. The girls began talking about their day while eating slowly, unlike the guys. _

_Then Fiona and Adam stood up from their seats and the table fell silent. Everyone at the table knew what the big announcement was, but didn't want to spoil the "surprise". Adam cleared his throat and then boldly said, "Hey guys, I have an announcement for all of you guys." He gulped and then turned to Fiona. She nodded at him encouragingly and he went on. "So anyways, Fiona and I are officially dating!" _

_Adam grabbed Fiona's hand and then everyone around the table got up. Ali, Clare, Holly J, and Bianca congratulated Fiona while the guys did the same for Adam. Clare grabbed Fiona's hands and they squealed like school girls. Clare was so happy for Fiona since Adam was such a great guy for her! Fiona and Adam were smiling and blushing while holding each other's hands. _

_Clare saw Eli pat Adam on the back, along with the other guys. Sav was telling Adam that he couldn't let a girl get in the way of his work while Drew told Sav to shut up and be happy for Adam. Fitz told Drew that he was right and Sav just ended up just congratulating Adam. Then everyone pushed the happy couple towards the pool. Adam and Fiona were laughing too much to even notice what was going on. _

_Eli grabbed Clare's bicep and quietly said, "Whenever people start to date, we dunk them in the pool!" Clare nodded and then pushed Fiona closer to the pool along with the other girls. Fiona and Adam were in front of the others, facing one end of the pool; then, knowing exactly what was going to happen, held hands. "1… 2…3!" Then the people behind the couple pushed them into the pool. Adam and Fiona were in the pool, surfaced for air, and laughed. _

_Fiona put her arms around Adam's neck and pulled him close. She pecked him on the cheek and hugged him. Clare watched as Drew picked Ali up bridal style and then jumped into the pool fully clothed. Ali squealed so loudly, Clare had to cover her ears. As soon as Ali's head popped up, she started whining about her nails but Drew silenced her with a kiss. _

_Eli began to clap and then cried out to Drew, "Thanks for shutting her up Drew!" Drew didn't turn from kissing Ali but blindly put thumbs up in Eli's direction. Clare laughed at that and watched as Sav jumped in with Holly J on his back. Then a splashing war began between the boys and girls in the pool. Fitz and Bianca sat down at the table beside the pool and rooted for the girls or the boys. Clare just watched them play in the pool. _

_When they decided that it was time for the pool fun to stop, they got out and toweled off. They sat in chairs all together and dried off. Ali then turned to Eli and said, "Since everyone is coupled up Eli, we need to find you a girlfriend." Drew nodded and then the others nodded Ali glanced between Clare and Eli and then winked at Fiona, gaining a nod from her. Clare just glanced at Eli quickly and saw his jaw tighten a bit. He then calmly said, "I'll pass… for now." _

_Ali grinned at him and then got up and dragged Drew off with her, shouting over her shoulder that it was bedtime. The others followed her into their rooms, leaving Clare and Eli. He cleared his throat and then yawned. "I'm heading to bed. See ya in the morning Agent C." He didn't wait for her reply before walking off to his room. Clare said night and then headed to her bed. _

_She changed into her pajamas and got into bed. She got under the covers and laid her head on the pillow. She squirmed around, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in. Finally she gave up, threw the covers aside, and headed for the kitchen. _

Now there she was, walking to the kitchen, going to get a drink of water. Before she walked into the kitchen, she heard laughing. Peeking through the doorway, she saw Bianca and Fitz. Fitz had a can of whip cream and was chasing Bianca around the kitchen. Bianca had a bottle of chocolate syrup and was covered in whip cream. Fitz had a trail of chocolate syrup going from his fore head to his shirt. She saw two small bowls with an ice cream carton opened but not touched, seems they had found better things to squirt whip cream and chocolate syrup at! They were smiling and threatening each other as they chased each other around.

Clare watched as they chased each other around the kitchen, laughing silently from her hidden position. Fitz caught Bianca in his arms and then twirled her around, letting her land in his arms. They both had smiles on their faces as they began dancing around the kitchen. Fitz dropped the whip cream bottle and dipped Bianca low. Their faces inched closer and then Fitz closed his eyes. Bianca then opened her eyes and got ready to squeeze chocolate syrup all over his face, and then Fitz opened his mouth before she could squirt it all over his face and got the syrup to squirt into his mouth. "Remember what I **CAN DO** !" Fitz laughed before kissing her.

Clare decided that she didn't need a glass of water and headed back to the room. Ali was already asleep when she walked in. She jumped onto the bed and climbed under the covers. Her head landed on the pillow and she fell fast asleep, smiling at the love she had seen that night. If only she had known that somewhere else in the house, someone didn't have a smile on their face.

A body twisted and turned on the bed as it tried to find the right position to sleep in. Dreams turned into nightmares of the past; be_ing alone, the dark, and the freezing winter night. Stranded on railroad tracks and walking on them, distracted by another world. Turning to look back at a faint noise from his subconscious. It's too late. The light has come, that blinding, white light. It's coming closer and closer, then... _

_**Darkness**_

* * *

Hey guys (:  
I think I'm pretty sure that my official day for updates is going to be every Wednesday but I'm still going to keep the poll up(my profile) to see if people choose another day for the updating. I did drop some hints/clues in this chapter about one of the characters and write a comment if you think you know which character it is and what the hint is! It's a pretty hidden clue but I will de surprised if anyone figures it out. I love comments and feedback about this chapter because my friend that read it said it was the best-written out of the other the four chapters of the story so far. (: Would love to know what other people think. LOVE IT OR HATE IT?

Written by,

~MMurray978


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